HOORAY DISCOVER MAGAZINE

[kim]

http://discovermagazine.com/2007/apr/autis...t:int=0&-C=

[Chemar]

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Guest]

You can go to http://www.senate.gov/ to find your senators and http://www.house.gov/ to find your house representatives and request them to purchase a copy of the April issue of Discover magazine

 

Also email the staff at the American Medical Association in your state.

 

You can email them this information from the Autism Mercury Yahoo Forum:

Autism: It's Not Just in the Head

 

The devastating derangements of autism also show up in the gut

and in the immune system. That unexpected discovery is sparking

new treatments that target the body in addition to the brain.

 

By Jill Neimark for Discover Magazine

April 2007

http://discovermagazine.com/

 

The Discover article spotlights the beginning of a new consensus on

the links between autism, vulnerability genes and the environment --

and the biomedical treatment approach that emerges out of that insight.

 

OUTQUOTE:

"In spite of so many years of assumptions that a brain disorder like this is not treatable, we're helping kids get better. So it can't just be genetic, prenatal, hardwired, and hopeless," says Harvard pediatric neurologist Martha Herbert... "I no longer see autism as a disorder of the brain but as a disorder that affects the brain," Herbert says. "It also affects the immune system and the gut. ... If symptoms can improve in such a short time frame simply by avoiding exposure to foods, then we're looking at some kind of chemically driven 'software' ^ perhaps immune system signals ^ that can change fast. This means that at least some of autism probably comes from a kind of metabolic encephalopathy ^ a system wide process that affects the brain, just like cirrhosis of the liver affects the brain."

 

[Continued in Discover magazine cover article, with illustrations, available on newsstands now. Please note that the U.S. autism rate is now 1 child in 150, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. - NEH, Minnesota]

 

Carolyn

[Laurensmom]

Once again "complementary medicine" is ahead of the crowd.

 

[kim]

Laurensmom!

 

It's nice to see you again

 

Just wondering if this looks familiar to anyone else?

 

From page 5

 

Brendan no longer chews on his shirt, flaps his arms, and grinds his teeth.

 

Sometimes, I think there are many things, I have forgotten.

[Guest]

Kim,

 

That looks familiar to me. I chewed on my shirt, coats, zippers, hair, etc. for a long time as a child. So many things are so similar to the Autism Spectrum Disorders. It really stands out at me that when I was 2, I suddenly became so hypersensitive to foods, tight clothing, itchy clothing, baggie clothing, seems on my socks, tags on my shirts, the type of undergarnments I wear, noises, etc. Not only that, but also the severe speech articulation problem I had as soon as I began talking. It almost seems like things are similar, but not as much damage was done to the body as those with Autism. For me the timing seems so similar to Autism cases with the sensory & speech issues.

 

Carolyn

[kim]

Carolyn,

 

I feel the same way.

 

The eating issues for my youngest son began right around the same time frame yours did, a little earlier I guess.

 

I got a lot of my VCR tapes out the other day. I have not transfered them to DVD yet (hope I can find an old player around here that still works).

 

I want to see if I can narrow down, exactly when he started rejecting foods. I know it was btwn about 1 yr. and 18 mos.